A police officer in Seattle is being investigated after a video appeared online appearing to show him urinating against a wall while on duty.

The Seattle Police Department has launched an internal review after the video appearing to show the officer literally caught with his pants down was posted on YouTube.

Apparently filmed behind some shops in the Washington city, the officer is seen to pull up in his patrol car in what appears at first to be a routine security check.

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On duty: The police officer was seen on camera getting out of his patrol car on what appeared to be a routine security check behind some shops

Not wanting to be caught: The officer looks around to check that no one is watching him

Caught in the act: The officer then appears to undo his trousers and urinates against a wall

But when the officer approaches a corner by the bins and appears to undo his trousers as he checks to see that no one is watching, it becomes clear that he is more worried about being caught than catching anyone else up to no good.

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Unbeknown to the officer, he is standing directly below a CCTV camera which is recording his every move.

When he realises his mistake, he is seen to utter something in alarm before heading out of shot.

He eventually gets back into his patrol car and drives away.

Busted: The officer gets a shock when he looks up and spots the CCTV camera above his head

Gone: After disappearing briefly, the officer makes a hasty retreat back to his police car before driving away

The video has reportedly been passed on to the officer's commander as well as the force's Office of Professional Accountability for investigation.

The officer's actions have left local business owners, fed up of people using the area as a public toilet, unimpressed according to Komonews.com.

Liz Warren, who manages a local photography store, said: 'It's a terrible thing for a police officer who's supposed to be getting people in trouble for this kind of thing, and then they're going and doing it.'

But not only is the officer annoying the locals, he is also breaking the law - urinating in public is illegal according to the Seattle Municipal Code.